John Higgins in hurry to end curse of champions

The Scot was determined that the defence of his title would not be brought to a juddering halt in the opening round

John Higgins, the defending world snooker champion, survived a highly dangerous first-round encounter with Matthew Stevens at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, prevailing by 10 frames to five. The scoreline masks a good struggle.

Higgins often has the air of a worried man, his brow furrowed as if he expects the worst. And it was just his luck, he rightly thought, to be drawn against Stevens so early in the piece. Stevens may have had poor form of late and has dropped in the rankings - hence the distortion in the draw - but he is a seasoned and extremely capable player who has twice reached the world final, losing close matches on each occasion. Indeed, in his 10 visits to the final stages of the championship, Stevens had never previously lost in the opening round.

And when Stevens began the morning session by showing just how good he can be, Higgins,